Brian Caffarey - 11th February 2011

Bishop’s Stortford v Woking
3pm on Saturday 12 February 2011

The Cards travel to Bishop’s Stortford tomorrow seeking their third successive league win in a bid to narrow the gap between their current 9th place and the clubs chasing the play-off places. Garry Hill has already begun to make his mark on the squad and most fans will be expecting further changes in the days to come.

WOKING

The Cards are now 11 points off Bromley in 5th place with three games in hand. The immediate aim must be to take maximum advantage of four upcoming games, starting with tomorrow’s, which are all ‘winnable’ on paper, although only a veritable optimist would expect the Cards to come away with three points from each. Following Bishop’s Stortford away, we have Staines at home in a week’s time, followed by away trips to Maidenhead and Lewes. A good points haul from those games might see us close, or at least substantially narrow, the gap on the top eight clubs, who at present look as though they are breaking away from the pack. Then the crunch would come with two home games v Farnborough and Ebbsfleet.

Garry Hill has moved swiftly this week to ensure that we have the services of Elvis Hammond and Reiss Noel till the end of the season, while agreeing to terminate Sam Hurrell’s contract and send Alan Inns out on loan to Boreham Wood for the rest of the campaign. No doubt other changes will follow now that Garry and Steve Thompson have seen their new charges in four games.

The Cards played some attractive football in Tuesday’s win against St Albans, with plenty of pace and movement up front, although the cutting edge was still not sharp enough. Ollie Palmer’s second appearance as a substitute augured well for the future. Perhaps another Academy player, Anson Cousins, will get more of a look-in now that the left flank position has been vacated by Sam Hurrell?

BISHOP’S STORTFORD

The Bishops sit in 14th place, with three points fewer than the Cards and having played four games more. They have won only four games at home, drawing two and losing eight, with 11 goals scored and 24 conceded. Heavy defeats were suffered at the hands of Havant and Waterlooville (5-1) and Dover Athletic (4-1). Their last home game ended in a 1-0 defeat by Dartford, their fifth defeat in a row. On Tuesday night they drew 2-2 at Maidenhead.

The Bishops have had a poor season in the cups, going out at the first attempt in the FA Cup to Bromley after a replay and also first time out in the FA Trophy, to Ashford Town (Middx).

Ex-Card Jason Norville is in the Stortford squad. Paolo Vernazza signed for them at the beginning of the season but has not figured for them in recent games.

LAST SEASON

Woking 1 Bishop’s Stortford 0
22 August 2009

It was a generally frustrating afternoon for Cards fans as Woking failed to turn dominance into goals. Moses Ademola partnered Craig Watkins up front, with Luke Medley on the right flank. The winner came as late as the 88th minute after Watkins was fouled in the box, with Gez Sole converting the penalty.

Bishop’s Stortford 0 Woking 3
5 December 2009

A determined Woking side, looking to recover from a dreadful 5-0 drubbing at Bath City, took the lead on the half-hour mark with an excellent strike from Matt Wright, paired with his Palace team mate, Nathaniel Pinney, up front. Moses Ademola added a second after the break from a corner and then Gez Sole rounded things off with a penalty after he’d been brought down.

By coach
Leaves 11.30am; £14 members, £19 non-members; phone the Club Shop or email shop@wokingfc.co.uk N.B. Supporters arriving by car are asked to use the rear car park at Kingfield since the front car park has been reserved for a wedding party.

By car
From the M25, take M11 north towards Cambridge. Exit M11 at Junction 8. On the M11 roundabout take 2nd exit. Within 200yds is another roundabout. Take 1st exit. After about 400yds take first right (opposite the golf club) into Industrial Estate and follow the road around to your right. The ground and car park (£1) are straight ahead. To ensure a parking space arrive at least 30 minutes before kick-off.

By train
Bishop's Stortford main line rail station is on the Liverpool Street to Cambridge line. Some possible journeys from Liverpool Street are:
13.10 13.47; 13.28 14.10; 13.40 14.15. Direct trains back are at 00, 09, 28 and 39 minutes past the hour. (Alternatively, you can take the tube to Tottenham Hale and catch the same service from there.)

The ground is a good 20-minute walk from the station, but there is a taxi-rank adjacent to the station exit. If you want to walk, leave the station and bear right, up the slope. Turn right, crossing over the rail line and proceed to T junction. Turn left ('London Road') and walk towards the traffic lights (known as 'Hockerill'). At the lights turn right into the 'Dunmow Road'. This is a long part of the journey by foot. Go straight up this road, passing the 'Red Cow’ pub on your right. You will pass some shops on your left, a Toyota garage on your right and a Land-Rover dealer’s on your left at a roundabout. Continue straight on. At the next roundabout go straight on and the next turning on the left is for 'Woodside Industrial Park'. Turn left into the estate and follow the road round to the right. Continue straight on and the ground is in front of you.

Come on, you Cards!

P.S. Don’t forget that the Cards’ next home game is against Staines next Saturday.